Some of the many highlights of this speech, delivered at the 2012 World Congress on Guardianship:
"An outrage about the wrongs committed by a majority onto a minority..."
"Guardianship is not only inappropriate in itself but it often facilitates the long-term or life-long segregation of people with disabilities into institutions...."
"Guardianship, I submit, increases the risk of exploitation, violence and abuse instead of preventing it..."
"And guardianship, in my submission, rips families apart and plays a role in our legal frameworks which goes completely against celebrating the diversity of humanity...."
Source:
Oliver Lewis - Litigation and the Right to Legal Capacity
See Also:
Mental Disability Advocacy Center
Note: The 2nd World Congress on Adult Guardianship was held in Australia, so we thought it prudent to include a case of guardianship abuse from Australia in this post:
Bendigo Bank (Christine Frankham) This Will Not Go Away
(This is an overwhelming story of the Watts family's ongoing fight to seek justice with supporting evidence against a Bendigo Bank Manager (Christine Frankham) who used her position and Trust to take advantage of their elderly mother Yolanda Hutton.)
See Also:
BendigoBanksters on Facebook
Attorney General Greg Smith NSW Minster of Justice and State Member for Epping, who is also responsible for the NSW Trustee and Guardian, with its off shoot the NSW Guardianship Tribunal.
This tells it like it is:
ReplyDelete""Guardianship, I submit, increases the risk of exploitation, violence and abuse instead of preventing it..."
Guardianship can be the right solution at the right time. Unfortunately, when the guardian is a stranger, and worse yet a corporate stranger, bit by bit other motivations creep in and the incapacitated person's interests and wishes get lost among the shuffle.
ReplyDeleteGuardianship programs that started out doing wonderful things wind up hurting people rather than helping them, covering up their own misdeeds, using their influence to unjustly attack and discredit anyone who tries to stand up for these helpless, voiceless incapacitated people.
It's not necessarily greed, although that may certainly be a part of it. It's the tendency we all have to see the world only from our own narrow perspective, to focus only on day-to-day minutia and not the big picture, to force all problems into a one-size-fits-all solution, to fail to take the time and trouble to understand these complex beings who are just as human and just as capable in their own unique ways as each of us. It's the tendency to justify our actions and inaction to ourselves and others, without honest and serious reflection.
That's why monitoring and oversight are so important for guardianship programs.
In the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, both Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia and Jewish Family Service of Tidewater have gone down this crooked path.
Will the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and the Virginia Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board yank them back? Highly doubtful, given past experience.
I agree!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a speech. I am going to come back and listen to it again. Thank you for posting, NASGA. Oliver Lewis gets it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic and important speech and I hung on every word.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the audience reacted to this speech because the audience at these events are mostly guardians.
ReplyDeleteWish I knew this man!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you posted this, NASGA. Oliver Lewis is such a great speaker and his passion for the disabled shows in every word he speaks.
ReplyDeleteFantastic video!
ReplyDeleteThis video really is an eye opener and does give the issue a true Global Prospective to the issues and traps that are prevalent within Corrupted Systems.
ReplyDeleteThe reality about Attorney General Greg Smith NSW Minster of Justice and State Member for Epping, who is also responsible for the NSW Trustee and Guardian, with it's evil off shoot the NSW Guardianship Tribunal.
Is he and other State Governments show no interest in the the plight of either Elderly Abuse or Guardianship Abuse Victims and their Families.
It's just a case of the Band Plays on to the same old tune Down Under..!!!
Applause and Standing Ovation!
ReplyDeleteThe truth before an audience of professionals by a from around the world.
Include USA in this. Flawed is being kind.
Thank you Oliver Lewis for exposing the darks side of a system most false believe is about caring and protecting.
In reality it's all about the money and job security.
Powerful speech! The exploitation, abuse/neglect and damages sustained by so many of us under the guise of co-guardianship and guardianship through medical, facilities, attorneys, government agencies and court systems is inexcusable and needs addressed so that others are not subjected to these kinds of treatments. I so appreciate NASGA and others for bringing to light this human atrocity!
ReplyDelete